ARCADIUS 383AD Ancient Roman Coin Three emperors w spears i25712

Item: i25712

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Arcadius – Roman Emperor: 383-408 A.D. –

Bronze AE4 16mm (1.48 grams)

Cyzicus mint circa 383-408 A.D.

Reference:

Cyzicus
RIC IX 148
D N ARCADIVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right, star behind
bust
 DN ARCA ROMANORVM (!), Three emperors standing facing. The two outermost
are taller,
holding spears, and resting hand on shield, turning towards each
other. The innermost
figure is smaller, holds spear, head turned right. SMKB.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Flavius

Arcadius (377/378–1 May 408) was

Byzantine Emperor

in the Eastern half of the

Roman

Empire
from 395 until his death.

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History

Arcadius was born in

Hispania
,

the elder son of

Theodosius I

and

Aelia Flaccilla

, and brother of

Honorius

, who would become a

Western Roman Emperor

. His father declared him an

Augustus

and co-ruler for the

Eastern half of the Empire

in January, 383. His younger brother was also

declared Augustus in 393, for the Western half.

As emperors, Honorius was under the control of the Romanized

Vandal

Flavius

Stilicho
while Arcadius was dominated by one of his ministers,

Rufinus

. Stilicho is alleged by some to have wanted control of both

emperors, and is supposed to have had Rufinus assassinated by Gothic mercenaries

in 395; though definite proof of Stilicho’s involvement in the assassination is

lacking, the intense competition and political jealousies engendered by the two

figures compose the main thread of the first part of Arcadius’ reign. Arcadius’

new advisor, the eunuch

Eutropius

, simply took Rufinus’ place as the power behind the Eastern

imperial throne.

Arcadius was also dominated by his wife

Aelia

Eudoxia
, who convinced her husband to dismiss Eutropius, who was holding the

consulate, at the height of his power, in 399. That same year, on the 13th July,

Arcadius issued an edict ordering that

all remaining non-Christian temples should be immediately demolished

.

Eudoxia’s influence was strongly opposed by

John Chrysostom

, the

Patriarch of Constantinople

, who felt that she had used her family’s wealth

to gain control over the emperor. Eudoxia used her influence to have Chrysostom

deposed in 404, but she died later that year. Eudoxia gave to Arcadius four

children: three daughters,

Pulcheria
,

Arcadia and Marina, and one son, Theodosius, the future Emperor

Theodosius II

.

Arcadius was dominated for the rest of his rule by

Anthemius

, the

Praetorian Prefect

, who made peace with Stilicho in the West. Arcadius

himself was more concerned with appearing to be a pious

Christian

than he was with political or military matters, and he died, only

nominally in control of his empire, in 408.

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Character and works

In this reign of a weak emperor dominated by court politics,

a major theme was the ambivalence felt by prominent individuals and the court

parties that formed and regrouped round them towards

barbarians
,

which in Constantinople at this period meant

Goths
. In the

well-documented episode that revolved around

Gainas
, a

number of Gothic foederati stationed in the capital were massacred, the

survivors fleeing under the command of Gainas to

Thrace
, where

they were tracked down by imperial troops and slaughtered and Gainas dispatched.

The episode has been traditionally interpreted as a paroxysm of anti-barbarian

reaction that served to stabilise the East. The main source for the affair is a

mythology à clef by

Synesius
of

Cyrene, Aegyptus sive de providentia, (400)^[1]

an Egyptianising allegory that embodies a covert account of the events, the

exact interpretation of which continues to baffle scholars. Synesius’ De

regno, which claims to be addressed to Arcadius himself, contains a tirade

against Goths.

A new

forum

was built in the name of Arcadius, on the seventh hill of

Constantinople, the Xērolophos, in which a

column

was begun to commemorate his ‘victory’ over Gainas (although the

column was only completed after Arcadius’ death by

Theodosius II

).

The

Pentelic marble

portrait head of Arcadius (illustration) was

discovered in Istanbul close to the Forum Tauri, in June 1949, in excavating

foundations for new buildings of the University at

Beyazit

.^[2]

The neck was designed to be inserted in a torso, but no statue, base or

inscription was found. The

diadem
is a

fillet with rows of pearls along its edges and a rectangular stone set about

with pearls over the young emperor’s forehead.